I was out in the garage today test fitting the parts on the '48 donor head. The headers came in from hot rods of Norco this week and I couldn't wait to see what its going to look like all together:

I did some measuring on the car and it doesn't look I have any clearance issues other than the firewall vertical rib and the intake (which is way deaper then stock). But I knew about this when I bought it.

Hey GMDad, they're not stainless - they're powder coated steel . . . one of a handfull of things I'll be cheating on in my circa '53 hop up. I chose them cause they are closest thing to Clark headers I could find.

I am going to do a frame on resto - leaving the trim on for an outwardly stock appearance. The guy I bought the car from took great care of aesthetics but rushed into a repaint. I'll leave that to a body-man to block sand and clean up before repainting back to the original blue.

As for the engine mods, I am reading Roger Huntington and Bill Fisher for advice on what to do with the block that is original to the car.

For the lower end I have an NOS Power Glide crank for increased stroke. I have a set of donor rods that have been converted to use insert bearings. With insert rods and mains and a NOS crank I can fit everything to stock tolerances with no shims and no need for line boring. The jet oiling will stay - just like most 'road jobs' in the day.

To finish the short block I'll need custom pistons. Venolia and Ross both have offerings for the 216. I need to go custom to get the right wrist pin geometry given the longer stroke. I'll likely go .040 over on the bore to leave room for one more rebuild. I am shooting for 8:1 compression unless it makes sense to go higher on such an old head.

For the cam I had the guys at Delta regrind a NOS TRW High Torque cam based on the Iskenderian D.P. #2 spec. I chose a 235 High Torque core because it has the necessary 'reliefs' in the shaft to prevent rod contact from the longer stroke. This is the 2nd of the original 'dual pattern' grinds that Isky developed for the 216. It's a very asymetrical grind that holds the exhaust valve open for scavenging. The specs at .050 on the work done by Delta are 204 duration on the intake and 232 on the exhaust. Lift on the exhaust is better than the Isky spec at .398. Lift on the intake will be way better than the Isky spec at .463 with the help of Barker High Lift rocker arms.

I am open for suggestion on the springs for the valve train. The old school calls for '31 Buick inners and stock '46 on up Chevy outters - or McGurk inners if you can find em. A modern aftermarket spring for the 235 will likely out perform the old school approach . . . like what Patrick's sells for use with the Howard Johansen spec cams they sell.

For the head I have a donor from a '48 that I have been doing a light port and polish job with hand tools. Both Roger and Bill do a good job of descibing what to do and what not to do. I'm mostly just smoothing the barnacles from the casting. And if I screw it up I have the original on the car to fall back on.

As you can see from the pics the intake will be fitted with two Strombergs. I'll likely get the carbs and linkage from Charlie Price at vintagespeed.com.

The only other significant mod is the rear end - I have harvested the guts from a '52 Power Glide for the 3.55:1 ratio. I intend to swap the carrier and spiders into my stock '49 rear end cause the plan is to stay with the original Huck brakes.

That do be pretty, and i am eager to see it all together and running. Maybe my '52 two-door (now coming to completion) and your '49 can get together at the border and make a little run out US 27 . . . just like old times.

I have heard speculation that CAW stands for "Colorado Aluminum Works" - still others say that it is a monogram of some guys initials - another story is that these were made for a fleet of delivery vehicles to quiet valve noise - who knows for sure. My research has turned up zero documentation on these things. I am told that a house still stands at the address:And that the fella with initials CAW has long since passed away.

I have only ever seen one - and when I did I bought it!

The previous owner had painted it blue flame blue. But he didn't prep it well and it fish eyed due to oil deposits. So then he went for a second and then a third coat! The results were less then professional.

I had to steep it in accetone to get all that off - especially since it went into the pores of this rough casting:

Then I used gun cleaning patches and toluene to wick the oily spots. The toluene cuts the oil and floats it to the surface - and the cotton in the patch grabs it without any rubbing.

To get a uniform color I sprayed it with Eastman's TriCoat and then polished it with 000 steel wool. It still needs some more elbow grease. I will seal it with a coat of Eastmans's diamond clear satin before I install it for real.

Stock 49, very cool set up, will be a head turner for sure. Re. the Edmunds water heated intake, a buddy of mine had one and I took it to work and x-rayed the thing to see what the inside looked like. Well, the water pipe (don't see it on yours) was full of little holes. I'd replace the pipe if you can or may have to plug the holes. Either way check it out before you run it with water. Also, keep the pics coming great stuff.

_________________________
Jim, I.I. #173(It's easier to get forgiveness than permission!)

Hey Don . . . maybe when I get things put back together I will take you up on that formation flight on US 27 . . .

Thanks HiTork . . . you're thinking of the first design Edmunds manifolds. Those had a copper tube running through the casting that didn't hold up well. I think that the dis-similar metals copper/aluminum interacted causing the pipe to decay quickly (the perforations you mention under x-ray).

The manifold that I have is the 2nd design. It has a cast-in water jacket that fully encircles the carb throats and heats the core of the manifold. There are two 3/8 NPT threaded holes that function as inlet and outlet.

I know for a fact that mine doesn't leak - because I plugged one hole - filled the water jacket completely with acetone and then plugged the other. I left it sit for a few weeks to dissolve all the shelf crud that had built inside up from years of disuse. Didn't lose a drop.

Excellent paint on the head - does that match the body color? Nice polish on the manifold - I can't seem to get that same lustre. Guess I need to spend somemore time on the wheel. What kinda buffing compound did you use?

Tell us more about the engine - 248? 268? What mods. . . looking good!

Nice scoop Frank - I like the single fuel filter on the firewall. Where did you get those braided flex fittings?